Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Training.

"PC Lie: Body love is crucial. You should praise yourself every time you look in the mirror.

Do this instead: Love effort, love achievement, and stop being so self absorbed.

"Body love" is a term used mainly by people who fixate on their bodies, feel like crap about their bodies, and then broadcast to the world the exact opposite. They want you to believe that THEY believe every dimple and crevice of their flesh is attractive, so they've created a movement to make it socially acceptable to shove their belly rolls in our faces...

But talking about how much you love your body means you're probably trying to convince yourself of something you really don't believe. The problem isn't a lack of self-love; it's a lack of effort, action, progress, and achievement... and overwhelming self-obsession. "Body love" is code for this self-obsession. It's forced narcissism, which is now encouraged and applauded these days...

The Alternative to Pretend Body Love: Achievement

Need a self-esteem boost? Do something worthy of esteem. Do work. Choose something hard, uncomfortable, and outside your current skill set. Put yourself in a situation where you have to suck for a while because it's that difficult...

PC Lie: Never judge other people under any circumstances.
Do this instead: Judge certain people for certain behaviors.

We're all doing it anyway. You're judging me for this article right now. And while most people won't admit this, judging others is a form of self improvement. When we see people doing things, we judge it as positive or negative, and may then either avoid or emulate those behaviors. Ever see someone order an extra large bucket of popcorn soaked in melted butter at the movie theater? Ever see someone go to town at a buffet who clearly shouldn't be going to a buffet at all? Or how about that friend who keeps up with the Kardashians but can't make it to the gym? You probably don't want their results, so judging them motivates you to make different choices. And if that idea makes you feel like a prick, then realize that you're judging their priorities, attitudes, and behaviors – things within their power to change – not circumstances they were born with...

PC Lie: Focus on strength, not looks.
Do this instead: Train for any damn thing you want...

PC Lie: Never compare yourself to others.
Do this instead: Compare yourself to some people sometimes.

Needing to know how you stack up is normal. It's called "competition" and if it didn't exist, then sports as a whole wouldn't exist. And lucrative jobs. And dating. And relationships. And pretty much life as we know it. Going up against others to determine who's better at something is one way of finding out how you stack up. Being judged on a stage is one way of finding out how you stack up. Seeing who can bench, squat, deadlift, and press more weight is one way of finding out how you stack up. Don't pretend you're not comparing yourself to people all the time. You wouldn't have searched the internet to find out how much other lifters can bench or deadlift if you weren't using them as a measuring stick to see how you're doing. Humans are competitive. Which means we're never going to stop comparing ourselves to others. And there are productive ways to channel it if you're not wanting to pay judges to see how you stack up officially...

You can respect the work of other people without trashing yourself. If you see a lifter who's stronger, more skilled, or more jacked than you, use them as a role model or recruit them as a teacher. Making a comparison doesn't mean wallowing in jealousy. If you're unable to avoid that, go hide in your safe space and cry."